Friday, October 16, 2015

Thomas Reese SJ on why the synod will fail

From Thomas Reese SJ - Five reasons the synod is doomed to fail ... The synod on the family has created a lot of interest in the church and spilled a lot of ink (or electrons) in the media, but there are five reasons that it was doomed to fail before the bishops even gathered in Rome Oct. 4. Perhaps Pope Francis can perform a miracle and save it, but the odds are against him ...

5 Comments:

Richard said...

Thanks Crystal, I found this part particularly insightful:)

"One conservative curial cardinal complained of the "schoolboy theology" being presented in episcopal speeches. There is some truth in that complaint. There is little evidence in their talks that bishops consulted theologians in order to understand contemporary thinking in Scripture, ethics or doctrine.

The bishops would have been better off spending the first week listening to theologians do an exegesis of scriptural passages on marriage, explain the concept of the development of doctrine, recount the history of the church's treatment of marriage, and propose resolutions to controversial questions.

The reason that Vatican II was successful was because an alliance was forged between the theological periti and the council fathers that was capable of defeating the Roman Curia's intransigence. Tragically, this alliance was broken after Humanae Vitae, when theologians were cast into the outer darkness as dissidents whom the bishops were to avoid at all costs."

Yeah, think what a difference it would make to have V2 theologians like Karl Rahner helping the bishops. Of course now most of the theologians are conservative and most of the bishops think they already know everything. Imagining Margaret Farley advising the bishops on sex and them collecting kindling for her stake.

I haven't read any of her books, but when her book 'Just Love' came out, there was a lot written about her online, like this at NCR ... http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/no-justice-margaret-farley-and-just-love ... and this ... https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/whats-justice-got-do-it